Amazing how quickly I can forget something important. Early this morning, I had read Numbers 11-13 and did the appropriate “tsk, tsk” at those ungrateful Israelites. It hadn’t even been two years prior that they were grinding away day after day in abject poverty and humiliating slavery. The oppressive conditions compelled God’s people repeatedly to…
As with much of the country the last few weeks, the winter weather has created a little bit of mayhem in our lives. The drive to work that normally takes 10 minutes may take 15-20. The day’s activities may include some shoveling before or after work. Mundane tasks—like grocery shopping or getting gas—become more of…
How cold is “cold”? As I sit down to write, our neck of the woods is beginning to enter the deep freeze, with temperatures falling the rest of the day and overnight. The weather people and my weather.com app tell us that the mercury is supposed to hit -26 before rising to a high of…
If you happen to be a fan of the NFL, or one of its teams, it’s been quite an exciting season! Some of the teams that were pretty crummy a year ago did very well this year (for example, the Chicago Bears). Some that used to be really good, well, let’s just say they weren’t…
We had some good plans— worthwhile, helpful, and productive plans. But you know how quickly your plans can go awry, right? On the last Sunday of 2018, my wife Chris planned to stop by our son and daughter-in-law’s house to pick up our grandson for church. The whole family wasn’t able to make it because…
How many times over the past few weeks have you heard maxims that sound like these: “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” — Andrew Carnegie “By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming…
Prior to 1992, I’d never been to Vermont. To this mostly Midwestern guy, the small northeastern state might as well have been a foreign country, for all I knew of it, which was almost nothing. But in July of that year, I received and accepted the call to pastor First Baptist Church in Shelburne, a…
Several years ago our family went on a camping trip in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. We were novices at the whole outdoor adventure thing, so it was a bit overwhelming trying to decide which of the plethora of hikes to do near the campground where we were staying. I finally settled on a…
I recently had the opportunity to attend a ministry conference in Riverside, California—about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. I was warned that it would be hot and dry, and indeed it was for two of the three full days I was there. That didn’t deter me from taking my hiking boots and poles so…
I have a theory about birthday celebrations. Just a theory, but based on very limited personal observations. It seems we go full circle in our attitude toward this annual milestone. I have a couple of preschool-aged grandsons, and if you mention “birthday party,” they get pretty excited—even more so if it’s their party! That birthday…